I did like John Hardy's continuance in referring to the top tier as the Premiership, him and Danny wondering whether Wyvern (Orient's club mascot) is actually a dragon in disguise, his Olympic viewing update (apparently he's watched Equestrianism and Trampolining and has no idea how you get gold in those) and him asking Danny questions about his time with Wales as Under 21 international, as someone he knew very well (I forget his name) was involved in the coaching set up.

The Sports presenter got Anthony to predict who would win the PL and who would go down, with Andrew predicting Manchester City to win the league. He only said that West Bromwich Albion would struggle but no firm pick as to which three gets relegated.

Fun fact: Brighton v Forest was the Friday night Championship game this weekend last year. Indeed all three stations listed above called upon the same match broadcasters then that they are using tonight, meaning I could do a copy-and-paste job of the message I posted this time last year!

Neither Newstalk nor sister station Today FM had a reporter covering Manchester City v Sunderland, but they did have reporters covering the Olympic Games in Richie McCormack (Newstalk) and John Duggan (Today FM).

Adrian Durham presenting Matchday Live from Goodison Park with Danny Murphy at Selhurst Park and Michael Gray at the Riverside Stadium, followed by The Full Time Phone-In with Danny Kelly and Stuart Pearce at the Etihad Stadium

It was actually Tony Incenzo reporting on Norwich City v Sheffield Wednesday for talkSPORT UK, while Dom McGuinness was their pitchside reporter at the Etihad Stadium during their Manchester City v Sunderland commentary game. They also had Kate Partridge providing Rio 2016 updates after 6pm.

Adrian Durham handled the half-time segment during the 5.30pm commentary (so that hasn't changed from previous seasons), while on the new Full Time Phone-In, Stuart Pearce joined a studio-based Danny Kelly between 7.30-9pm (the same length of time Stan Collymore used to do his Saturday phone-in), with Danny then anchoring a further hour of calls and other items on his own. Did anyone hear any of talkSPORT 2's Full Time Phone-In with Ian Danter and Michael Gray from the Riverside? If so, how did that show sound?

Over on talkSPORT Live, it was actually Matt Davies (of Chelsea TV) who was commentating on Crystal Palace v West Bromwich Albion. I misheard his initial namecheck. John Anderson and David Connolly were the commentary team on Manchester City v Sunderland.

Neither Newstalk nor sister station Today FM had a reporter covering Manchester City v Sunderland, but they did have reporters covering the Olympic Games in Richie McCormack (Newstalk) and John Duggan (Today FM).

It was actually Tony Incenzo reporting on Norwich City v Sheffield Wednesday for talkSPORT UK, while Dom McGuinness was their pitchside reporter at the Etihad Stadium during their Manchester City v Sunderland commentary game. They also had Kate Partridge providing Rio 2016 updates after 6pm.

Adrian Durham handled the half-time segment during the 5.30pm commentary (so that hasn't changed from previous seasons), while on the new Full Time Phone-In, Stuart Pearce joined a studio-based Danny Kelly between 7.30-9pm (the same length of time Stan Collymore used to do his Saturday phone-in), with Danny then anchoring a further hour of calls and other items on his own. Did anyone hear any of talkSPORT 2's Full Time Phone-In with Ian Danter and Michael Gray from the Riverside? If so, how did that show sound?

Over on talkSPORT Live, it was actually Matt Davies (of Chelsea TV) who was commentating on Crystal Palace v West Bromwich Albion. I misheard his initial namecheck. John Anderson and David Connolly were the commentary team on Manchester City v Sunderland.

Although Newstalk introduced the Burnley reporter as Adam Dury, RTE Radio introduced him as Peter Smith, who I believe it was.
Russell Hargreaves reported on RTE Radio on Sunday from Arsenal v Liverpool. I was not at home to hear who reported on Bournemouth v Manchester United.

Living down in the west country we get five BBC local stations from Mendip transmitter
Bristol
Somerset
Wiltshire
Gloucestershire
Dorset(although I think we should get Devon)
I turned over to BBC Dorset and they had commentary of the Bournmouth v Man Utd game.
By the way is there a maximum amount of BBC local radio stations we are allowed to have for each transmitter, or COULD we have ALL the BBC local stations using freeview?

Living down in the west country we get five BBC local stations from Mendip transmitter
Bristol
Somerset
Wiltshire
Gloucestershire
Dorset(although I think we should get Devon)
I turned over to BBC Dorset and they had commentary of the Bournmouth v Man Utd game.
By the way is there a maximum amount of BBC local radio stations we are allowed to have for each transmitter, or COULD we have ALL the BBC local stations using freeview?

The most I have seen for any transmitter is 5. I don't know why this is because looking round the Freeview channels at transmitter level, 719. 720, 721, 722, 723, 734 and 735 have been used. I wonder if some transmitters may increase to 7

Although Newstalk introduced the Burnley reporter as Adam Dury, RTE Radio introduced him as Peter Smith, who I believe it was.
Russell Hargreaves reported on RTE Radio on Sunday from Arsenal v Liverpool. I was not at home to hear who reported on Bournemouth v Manchester United.

Thanks for the correction. I'm just about to post today's details from talkSPORT (and elsewhere), but first I want to comment on how strong their commentary on AFC Bournemouth v Manchester United was. It was definitely the right call to give Jim Proudfoot an expanded role this season as their regular Sunday afternoon commentator and he worked very well with the excellent Danny Higginbotham, one of the most perceptive newcomers to the co-commentary arena and very much in demand at the moment judging by his growing Sky Sports commitments. The game was a really enjoyable listen. I think Sunday Exclusive as a whole sounded strong - on first impressions, I like the new Full Time Phone-In which begins pretty much straight away from 3.30pm. Mark Saggers and Higginbotham linked up well and handled the calls and discussion points in an engaging manner. talkSPORT's Sunday output is set to be very strong this season - I look forward to hearing Proudfoot and hopefully Higginbotham regularly.

talkSPORT's next live commentary game is on Tuesday, the first leg of the UEFA Champions League Play-Off between Steaua Bucuresti and Manchester City. Jim Proudfoot and Michael Gray will be commentating, with there being a Football League-based Around the Grounds edition of Kick Off scheduled to go out on talkSPORT 2 at the same time for those who'd prefer an overview of the night's domestic action.

Premier League
Chelsea v West Ham United - Tom Rennie and Rufus Brevett

talkSPORT are trailing Tottenham Hotspur v Crystal Palace as their 3pm commentary pick this coming Saturday. This game will probably be on talkSPORT 2, although I'm hoping they'll be covering the whole of T20 Blast Finals Day which runs throughout the afternoon - therefore I wouldn't mind it if the commentary gets moved over to either talkSPORT or talkRADIO as a one-off in order to accommodate the live cricket. I presume Radio 5 Live have picked Burnley v Liverpool as their 3pm commentary, given how they typically prioritise Manchester United and then Liverpool whenever those clubs play in the Saturday 3pm timeslot.

Adrian Durham presenting Matchday Live from Goodison Park with Danny Murphy at Selhurst Park and Michael Gray at the Riverside Stadium, followed by The Full Time Phone-In with Danny Kelly and Stuart Pearce at the Etihad Stadium

Wow! What an addition to the talkSPORT reporting team for the new season, a bonafide broadcasting legend in Sky Sports darts veteran John Gwynne. Brilliant to hear him on the station. It's also a Matchday Live debut today for Danny Murphy.

talkSPORT 2 are carrying updates from talkSPORT's reporters at their other featured games.

It's an interesting set-up across the two stations today, Danter was heard during the first hour of the main Matchday Live prior to his show going on-air at 2pm and is updating the match while it is in-play. However, during the 2-3pm hour Cooper and Gray were providing pre-match team news and analysis into Matchday Live while Dants was presenting. I wonder if they'll stick with this set-up on a regular basis or if they'll start using specific reporters for the main talkSPORT on these games separate to the talkSPORT 2 team.

An interesting set-up on the talkSPORT stations tonight. talkSPORT 2 were simulcasting the first half hour of talkSPORT's build-up before going their separate ways at 7.30pm, with the newer channel providing a Football League Around the Grounds show while the main one provides commentary on the Manchester City game.

BBC WM 95.6

Mark Regan presenting The West Midlands Football Phone-In and BBC WM 95.6 Sport from Villa Park

Not sure which game is on Freeview, Rego didn't trail it. Mark hosted The West Midlands Football Phone-In tonight between 6-7pm, as Paul Franks was hosting his Drive show from Blackpool (nope, me neither). It looks like BBC WM now have rights to all Aston Villa games, which they are sharing with the club's official website subscription service. Villa have downsized their in-house media team, with match commentator Jack Woodward leaving the club over the summer, so it makes sense from them to come to an agreement with WM (especially now Free Radio 80s are no longer on the scene) to produce commentaries for them.

With Jon Parkin now a Newport County player, I did like Rob and Jason both calling him 'Big Jon Parkin' as well as his height/weight stats at every available opportunity. You could also hear a supporter repeating to his friend what Rob was saying some of the time!

Radio Wales also joined 5 Live (as they did for the GB v South Africa Rugby Sevens Semi Final last week) for the 'first past' of the sprint finals involving Becky James.

according to the TS2 schedule, the Spurs v Palace game will be on there this Saturday at 3 PM. They'll be providing commentary of the first T20 semi finaland the final.
while i understand the commertial reasoning that the football will be more popular, its disapointing after such good T20 coverage that they won't cover one of the semi finals.
On another note (and this is a criticism normally labelled at 5Live so I feel no compunction in criticising TS for it) they will be pulling away from their live tennis on Friday evening to broadcast their new football discussion show. IMO live sport should always trump a discussion programme...
on a more posetive point, TS2 will be covering West Ham's Europa league qualifying round first leg match tomorrow night.

according to the TS2 schedule, the Spurs v Palace game will be on there this Saturday at 3 PM. They'll be providing commentary of the first T20 semi finaland the final.
while i understand the commertial reasoning that the football will be more popular, its disapointing after such good T20 coverage that they won't cover one of the semi finals.

Yes, I'm a bit disappointed that talkSPORT 2 won't be broadcasting T20 Blast Finals Day in its entirety on Saturday, given their extensive coverage of much of the group stage and all four quarter-finals.

However, it's good that they are broadcasting the first semi-final as well as the final and, who knows, they could make commentary on the second semi-final available via a webstream as they have done for sporting events in the past prior to the advent of talkSPORT 2.

While I personally would have advocated moving the 3pm Premier League commentary onto talkRADIO or even talkSPORT as part of the main Matchday Live for one week only, I can see the sense in keeping it in what will become its regular timeslot, given that their coverage only debuted last weekend.

On Saturday's Tottenham Hotspur v Crystal Palace coverage, Ian Danter mentioned on Kick Off last night that Alex Crook and Alvin Martin will be the commentary team at White Hart Lane - both are southern/London-based, which adds up with my theory that we'll see different commentary teams on these games from week to week, largely based on geography.

Judging by the talkSPORT.com schedule, it appears as if Stuart Pearce will be doing co-commentary alongside Sam Matterface on the Saturday 5.30pm game (Leicester City v Arsenal) for a second week running, while Jim Proudfoot will be joined by Michael Gray for Sunderland v Middlesbrough commentary on Sunday Exclusive - with Danny Kelly sitting in for Mark Saggers at host.

On another note (and this is a criticism normally labelled at 5Live so I feel no compunction in criticising TS for it) they will be pulling away from their live tennis on Friday evening to broadcast their new football discussion show. IMO live sport should always trump a discussion programme...
on a more posetive point, TS2 will be covering West Ham's Europa league qualifying round first leg match tomorrow night.

Yes, breaking their Cincinnati Open tennis coverage up with The Weekend Starts Here on Friday night seems pretty unusual - I've no idea if Andy Murray is scheduled to play that day, but if he is (set to be) on court at or after 6pm I'd be surprised if they didn't take coverage of his match regardless of their other plans.

I'm confused with the scheduling of this new show, as running it between 6-8pm last week meant they were only able to join their live Super League game right upon kick-off. When Premiership rugby union returns next month - arguably talkSPORT 2's most attractive sports contract after the Premier League - surely they cannot persist with this show in its current timeslot given that these games kick off at 7.45pm and you'd imagine they'd want to retain a 7pm start to their build-up. Also, Tom Rennie is involved in talkSPORT Live's Friday night Bundesliga coverage from 7pm, so I don't see how the two can co-exist in current form.

Good to see Astra v West Ham is live on talkSPORT 2 tomorrow, but again it throws up another scheduling conflict. The match is a 7.15pm kick off, with coverage due to start at 7pm after the live tennis, but they were originally scheduled to be doing full Super League commentary as they usually do on Thursday nights - instead, they'll only be having second half commentary on Hull FC v Catalans Dragons following the conclusion of the football. Given their rugby league commitments, I don't see why the West Ham match couldn't have been on the main talkSPORT.